Chapter 55: Fish Farming

Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an realized it was time, so they quickly exited the space. After a brief respite, they gathered their equipment and made their way to Qingning Mountain. 

Upon arrival, she immediately noticed a change. The usually barren ground had been transformed into a lush carpet of mushrooms, their caps glistening with moisture in the dim light. She pulled out her waterproof flashlight for a closer look, confirming they were indeed the shiitake and enoki mushrooms planted just yesterday.

Shock coursed through her as she surveyed the scene, the mushrooms’ rapid growth defying explanation. It seemed the energy-infused rainwater acted as a potent nutrient solution for the plants.

After a moment’s contemplation, she harvested a dozen or so shiitake mushrooms and had Shen Yanming store them in the space. She then settled onto a small stool to bask in the nourishing rain.

This time, Bi Qiao’an closed her eyes, carefully sensing the changes within the space. 

She felt the white mist surging, receding, and thinning. The silhouette behind the mist grew clearer, though its true form remained hidden. However, she did observe that the newly expanded space was indeed planted with small grass.

Withdrawing her consciousness from the space, Bi Qiao’an closed her eyes to sense the world in the rain. She could hear the sound of raindrops falling on leaves, the ground, and into the water. 

Reality and illusion blurred together until she couldn’t distinguish between the two. She could actually see everything around her—the shiitake and enoki mushrooms slowly growing on one side, the small grass getting taller on the other. Suddenly, everything seemed to come to a standstill.

Bi Qiao’an furrowed her brows slightly, trying to understand why the raindrops were suspended in midair. She looked around to find everything had stopped, except for Shen Yanming beside her.

Shen Yanming had been watching her as she closed her eyes and raised her head. As he observed, he became immersed, as if she were the only person left in the world.

Neither noticed that as they were completely absorbed in their own worlds, the formless energy around them poured frantically into their bodies.

Much later, Shen Yanming looked at Bi Qiao’an’s furrowed brows, unable to resist raising his hand to gently smooth them out.

The moment Shen Yanming touched her, Bi Qiao’an’s eyes fluttered open, and he simultaneously came back to his senses. Everything returned to normal—still raining, but the energy had dissipated. 

Both dismissed what happened as an illusion and packed up to head home, not dwelling on it further.

Before leaving, Bi Qiao’an picked another dozen or so shiitake mushrooms, having Shen Yanming store them separately from the first batch.

Upon returning home, they took a hot shower and went to sleep, not waking until 9:30 the next morning.

Logically, their lifestyle of staying up late and reversing day and night should have left them haggard. However, nourished by the energy rain, they instead boasted ruddy complexions and incredible health.

After getting up, Bi Qiao’an had Shen Yanming take out the two piles of shiitake mushrooms. She made shiitake with bok choy using the same method and called him over to taste for any difference.

Shen Yanming picked up his chopsticks, taking a bite of each. “They’re both delicious, with some energy inside. After eating, my whole body feels warm. However, I think the mushrooms in this plate taste even better, the energy more abundant.”

Bi Qiao’an also sampled each one. “Mm, there is indeed more energy in this batch. These mushrooms soaked in two rounds of energy rain. It seems they’re just like us—the more rain exposure, the greater the benefits.”

Shen Yanming chuckled at her words. “Only you would compare mushrooms to yourself. In the next two days, let’s pick some before and after the rain each day and see if there’s a limit to how much energy they can accumulate.”

Bi Qiao’an nodded. “I wonder if this rainwater can be drunk directly.”

Shen Yanming felt that as long as they soaked in the rain, the space could return to tranquility and be upgraded. “We should just need to be soaked in the rain,” he said, “but let’s still collect some for now. Who knows, it might come in handy later.”

“Mm!” She agreed, her mind already planning their next steps.

Bi Qiao’an returned to the kitchen, stir-frying tomato and egg, bean sprouts with shredded meat, and steaming a few buns. “Let’s eat lunch a bit earlier today. We still have things to do this afternoon!” she called out, her voice filled with excitement.

He smiled, bringing the finished dishes to the dining room. They enjoyed the delicious meal, finishing just past noon.

He told her to rest at home while he went out to take care of some business. Before leaving, Bi Qiao’an had him take out a dozen kilograms of pork belly and several dozen lunch boxes.

Shen Yanming sighed, “It would be great if you could directly access the storage space items!”

After he left, Bi Qiao’an rested for half an hour before starting to make braised pork. With water, electricity, and gas now convenient to use, she would make and store as much food as possible to eat directly in the future when it was less convenient.

As for Shen Yanming, his first stop was a real estate agency. Originally, with the global rainfall, people weren’t going out much, and real estate business had been colder than ever. However, in the past half month, business boomed with suburban residents and villagers from low-lying areas coming to rent apartments.

Shen Yanming pulled aside a guy with a buzz cut. Before he could say anything, the guy started babbling, “Sir, housing is very tight recently. Due to the rain, apartment rents have risen sharply. Do you still want to rent?”

Stunned at first, Shen Yanming smiled after hearing him out. “I want to rent a bungalow with a courtyard. Do you have any?”

Before the buzz cut guy could respond, an auntie spoke up, “Yes, my house is a bungalow. Do you want to rent it? In this day and age, there are still people who want bungalows?”

“Does it have a courtyard?” Shen Yanming inquired, his interest piqued.

“Yes, quite big. Over fifty square meters. The living quarters aren’t very good though. The walls are all covered in moss and very damp! Here, I have photos on my phone. Take a look.” She took out her phone to show Shen Yanming.

“If you rent out your house, where will you and your family live?”  

“We’ll stay with relatives for a while. That’s why I’m here asking about apartments. Staying at someone else’s long term isn’t ideal. Young man, why do you want to rent a bungalow?”

After a moment’s thought, Shen Yanming added, “To raise fish in the courtyard, actually.”

Hearing that, the auntie didn’t inquire further. She pulled the buzz cut guy aside to complete the formalities.

Taking the address and key from the auntie, Shen Yanming drove to the house. Indeed, the interior walls were densely covered with black mold spots, moss growing in the corners. It looked quite frightening.

Shen Yanming observed for a bit. Seeing no major issues, he turned and left the courtyard. From the trunk, he took out plastic storage bins he had prepared earlier, all filled with mushroom substrate bags.

After placing the mushroom bags one by one in the courtyard, Shen Yanming left and drove to the printing factory. 

The factory was deserted, on the verge of closing down, with hardly any workers inside.

Shen Yanming found the boss and directly ordered ten thousand 70cm x 50cm x 50cm five-layer corrugated cardboard boxes from him.